Vote for Corben

Corben got in the car after school yesterday and said, "Mom!  I need to write a speech!  I want to run for Student Council and Kaitlyn already has posters up and flyers with frogs on them!"  It seems that the 3rd grade is having each class vote on a representative to join the Student council.  Corben had mentioned something on Monday about it but hadn't gotten really excited until he saw Kaitlyn's posters and realized he was going to have to campaign.  Voting is today so we had very little time to get ready.  Being the mom that I am I immediately went into Campaign Manager mode.  I started dreaming up amazing posters and flyers and imagining the latest TV characters endorsing Corben.  (I did a campaign poster for my sister in Elementary School that had the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles voting for her.)  Corben said the TMNT were too old but he and Dade suggested some Nickelodeon characters or Disney Channel.  I could just see Phineas and Ferb deciding that Today they were going to Vote for Corben!  And Spongebob and Patrick claiming Corben was Da Bomb!  We thought about having a picture of Corben doing Tae Kwon-Do and saying Vote for a Champion!.....In the middle of all my hard work, Corben announced that he thought people (kids) would want to vote for someone who was hard working and creative, not someone who was Lazy and used a computer.  He then began work on his very own flyers.  It took him 3 tries and he finally figured out that it was easier to do in pencil first and then color.  He spent quite a bit of time coloring in all the letters.  Here's his Campaign Flyer:

He then began work on his speech.  He worked on it for sometime before coming to me and mentioning that he wished we had a book on How to be a Good Leader so that he could read it and be ready for tomorrow (which is today).  Anyway, luckily the internet is just a click away and this is what we found:

From http://www.wikihow.com/Be-a-Leader

How to Be a Leader

Want to know how to be an awesome leader that people can look up to? Here's your chance to find out.

Steps

1. Be very dedicated to what you are doing. Being a leader is a lot of responsibility and hard work, and you have to be up to it. Truly understand the field in which you are leading and be willing to spend a lot of time with whoever you're working with.

2. Help out others as much as you can. Spend quality time with those that need you.

3. Know right from wrong. Be cooperative as much as you can but also realize when you need to be assertive. Let people know when they are doing something that is not right.
4. Lead from the front. Put yourself on the front lines with your people, instead of trying to lead by just barking orders.
5. Be a good role model. Support the people you are working with and do all you can to show people the strength of your group.
6. Have confidence and be positive. A good leader never lets their team down. The meaning of the word team is Together Everyone Achieves More. Work with everyone you can and have a good attitude.

   

   Be a good role model

7. Lead by Example Rather than just barking orders, LEAD. Give the kind of effort you want to see given by your team. Have the kind of character you want your team to have. Follow and keep your eyes on the mission you want your team to follow.

Tips

• Give everything all you've got. Just remember that people are relying on you.
• Encourage those who follow you and build alliances.

Warnings

• Don't get too carried away. Being a leader doesn't mean you need to be cracking a whip over people constantly.
• Don't be overly critical, but constructive.
• Remember to take time off when needed. Being a leader is a demanding position to be in. You will become ineffective if you burn out.

 

Corben found this all very fascinating and read over it several times making notes and asking me to define words he didn't know.  He then set out to rewrite his speech and then asked everyone to come to the living room so he could practice because he gets very nervous speaking in front of groups of people.  (Obvious to any of you who have heard him speak in Primary but not obvious to any of you who saw his star in the lead role of the school play last year.  He's funny like that.)  Here is the amazing speech he came up with:

I mentioned that maybe he should throw in a Corben Rocks! there at the end but he felt that that would be Bragging and that no one would want to vote for a bragger.  I mentioned that he had to talk good about himself in order for people to know why they should vote for him.  He said that he had already done that a bit in his speech but that you had to make sure you didn't do it too much.  Bragging's not cool.

So there you have it.  Corben's idea of a campaign.  Honest, hard working, creative, and humble.  I can only hope that 3rd graders feel those are the characteristics they're looking for in the classmate that will be in charge of taking out the recycling everyday instead of just falling for cute flyers covered in frogs.

Go Corben!!!